Lord Randal (idea)

Lord Randal is a traditional folk ballad dating
to at least 1629 in Italian. Many variants exist; many of the best-known in English have been collected in Child’s
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. The first version in Child’s canonical work (public domain) is as follows :

The
hero - variously named – suffers the same fate in the various versions
of the ballad. The story is revealed through a sparse dialogue between
the hero and his mother. Through her questions, the mother discovers
where the young man has been, that he was fed, that the creatures that
got his leavings died, that he has a pain in his heart,
that he must lie down. There is a last will and testament of sorts,
closing with the young man willing damnation to his betrayer and
poisoner. In the last two lines above, he leaves her ‘hell and fire’.
In another popular version, the final stanza runs :

The song however, is unknown in France. The
translator Robert Paquin and others trace French versions to the
Atlantic coast of Canada and to Louisiana where the ballad was
independently translated from English – testament to its dramatic
effectiveness and popularity. According to Paquin, Louisiana versions
demonstrate adoption and Canadian versions adaptation. In Louisiana
for example, ‘I’m sick at the heart’ becomes ‘je suis malade du coeur’.
This is a faithfully literal rendering of the English but awkward in French,
meaning, if anything ‘I am subject to heart attacks’. The French
Canadian version adapts the English to the more sensible ‘j’ai mal au
coeur.’

The historical identity of the eponymous unfortunate
is debated. Sir Walter Scott thought it referred to Thomas
Randolph, First Earl of Murray and nephew of Robert the Bruce who
died in 1332 under mysterious circumstances. Others have suggested the
Sixth Earl of Chester who died in 1232, reportedly at the hand of his
wife. Versions of the song are known in Italy, Germany, Holland,
Hungary, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland. Betrayal in love is not uncommon. The story as
sung may have never happened, it may have happened once in
one place. It may have happened many times and in many languages, with
each iteration, adoption and adaptation imparting something new to the
tale and ensuring its survival in one form or another as a folk ballad
down the ages.

Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-1898) (online)